Refrigerator



June 7, 1938. H. D. BENETT 2,120,014

l REFRIGERATOR Filed May 3, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 57 im mnm INVENTOR MYWWM@ ATTORN EYS June 7, 1938. H, D, BENNETT 2,120,014

Hubert @ennef INVENTOR ATTORNEYS MM Mae@ Patented June 7, 1938 REFRIGERATOR Hubert D. Bennett, Toledo, Ohio, assigner to Toledo Scale Manufacturing Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application May 3, 1935, Serial No. 19,647

7 claims.

In refrigerators as heretofore constructed the temperature of the .entire interior rises nearly to that of the exterior due to the spilling of the cold air from the refrigerator and its replacement by warm air from outside whenever the refrigerator is opened for access to the contents. Such frequent elevation of interior temperature interferes with proper food preservation and results in.

preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure I of the drawings is an elevation of a refrigerator embodying my invention, showing an upper and a middle drawer pulled out.

Figure II is a vertical section taken on the line II-II of Figure I.

Figure I 'LIv is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line III-III of Figure I.

Figure IV is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on the line IV-IV of Figure I.

These specific drawings and the specific description that follows are to disclose and illustrate the invention, and are not to impose limitations upon the claims.

The refrigerator may be made in two or more sections to facilitate manufacture, transportation and assembly. One of the sections may be in the form of a closure section Ill, preferably located at the bottom of the refrigerator, so that the other section or sections rest upon it. In the form of refrigerator illustrated there are three intermediate sections II, I2, I3 resting upon the bottom section II'I, and another closure section at the top.

The top section Il may be provided with means for cooling the air in the refrigerator, such as an evaporator I5 operated by a refrigerating unit located in a rear compartment I6. Beneath the evaporator I5, brackets I'I maybe provided for supporting a drip-pan I8 that breaks up direct downward currents of air beneath the evaporator to produce uniform cooling of the top `section I4.

Warm air from below passes between the insulated side walls I9 of the top section and two inner sheets that are xed in the top section and are bent over at their tops to lead the air along the insulated top wall 2I to a point above the evaporator I5. To give access to storage space in the top section I4 an insulated door 22 is provided.

The sections are preferably held together by gravity alone with gaskets 23 interposed between them, as shown in Figure III, made of compressible material to ensure a tight fit. An overlapping bead 24 formed from the metal of the outer shell of one of two adjacent sections improves the appearance of the joint'. In order not to provide a conductive path for heat from the exterior to the interior of the refrigerator, the meeting edges of the sections may be formed of a strip 25 of a thermally insulating material such as wood rather than of metal.

The first intermediate section II may be provided with one or more compartments 26 partitioned off from the rest of the refrigerator. If the compartments extend the full depth of the section, they may have flanges 2l surrounding their front and rear ends for attachment to the front and rear walls of the section, as shown in Figure IV. In the other figures of the drawings most of the anges 2l are omitted for the sake of clearness.

Two apertures 28 may be provided in the top of the compartments for circulation of air that is bypassed by means of bales 29. The baffles may have strips 30 of exible material mounted along their upper edges, fitting against portions of the section above, which portions in this case are the bottoms of similar compartments .in the section above. 'Whatever may be the type of construction selected, the second section should cooperate with a compartment of the first to establish circulation of the air of the refrigerator through the compartment.

In the third intermediate section I3, compartments 3| may be provided having no apertures, with walls of thermally conducting material. The interior of these compartments thus may be kept cool while food is stored in them out of contact with the air of the rest of the refrigerator.' In order to guide into the proper channels air that has circulated around and through the compartments, the lower edges of the inner sheets 20 may carry flexible strips 32 and extend down into contact with the tops of the upper compartments 3l.

The food in the compartments is preferably stored in drawers 33 to make it readily accessible. To limit the outward movement of the drawers, stops 34 are provided in the upper compartments. In the case of the apertured compartments, the stops may constitute depending tongues 35 formed in the punching of the apertures 28. Means may i' be provided for conducting airfrom themain chamber through the drawers, such as the apertures 28, baffles 29, and bailles 36 in the drawers. The drawers'33 are preferably closed off from their compartments so that the air in the drawers is not disturbed when they are opened and closed.I

In order that all the air entering the compart-` ments when the drawers are opened may be displaced when they are closed, they are made sub stantially'large enough to ll the compartments. Insulated outer ends 31 may be provided if the compartments have separate openings to the' exterior that are closed by the drawers.

In case the drawers have open tops,l and are maintained closed oi from the compartments by means of portions of the compartments, such as the top walls, cooperating'with the open tops' of the drawers, passages should be provided-for ow of air into and out of the compartments' without -disturbing the air in lthe rest of the' refrigerator as the drawers are opened and closed.

Such passages may be formed by' spacing the' drawers from the bottoms of the compartments ventilated or Aclosed in accordance with desired conditions of the'circulating 'air andthe nature of the food to be preserved. The refrigeratorI ,may be converted from one type into another and Y yexpanded in size `with ease, because` of the Vpeculiar sectional construction provided. When the drawers are opened and closed, there is n loss of cold air .by convection lfrom the drawers or from lthe main portion of the refrigerator.

Changes in form may be made and various embodiments of the invention maybe constructed to meet various conditions.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a refrLerator, a compartment partitioned 01T fron the rest of the refrigerator, an open-top receptacle movable into and out of the compartment, said compartment having a portion that cooperates with the top of the receptacle to maintain the receptacle closed off from the compartment as it ismoved outward and inward, and a passage for ow of air into and out of the com- Dartment without disturbance of the air in the receptacle as it is moved in and out.

2. In a refrigerator, a compartment partitionedl olf from the rest of the refrigerator and having thermally conducting walls, a drawer made of thermally conducting material slidable into and out of the compartment, and closed off from the compartment, and means for cooling air in the refrigerator for circulation around the exterior of the compartment 4walls to cool the' contents of y the drawer.

` 3. In a refrigerator, a main chamber, `a compartment partitioned'oi from the main chamber and having a separate opening to the exterior, and a drawer slidable into the compartment to displace substantially all the air from the compartment and to close said opening, the drawer being closed 01T from the compartment tightly 'enough so'that the air in the main chamber and in the drawer is not disturbed when the drawer is opened and closed.

4. In a refrigerator, in combination, a main chamber, a compartment partitioned 01T from the main chamber, a 'drawer slidable into the compartment and closed off from the compartment tightly enough so that air in the main chamber and in the drawer is not disturbed when the drawer is opened and closed, and means for conducting air from the main chamber through the drawer, without spilling substantial quantities of is movedin and out, without disturbing the air.

in the receptacle or in the main chamber.

16. Ina refrigerator, a compartment separated fromv the rest of the refrigerator, and an open top receptacle movable into and out of the compartment, tted closely enough against the top of the compartment and suflciently spaced from a longitudinal wall of the compartment other than the top, to cause air to rush into and out of .the compartment as the receptacle is moved in and out, Without disturbing the air in the receptacle.

7. In a refrigerator, in combination, a refrigerating section comprising means for cooling the air of the refrigerator, and a variable number of sections forming with the refrigerating section a refrigerator composed of a tier of sections, saidV sections forming air-tight joints with one another to establish proper circulation of the air in the refrigerator and including a compartment having ,a drawer mounted therein and slidable .therefrom Yand closed off therefrom tightly enough to cause air to rush past the drawer into and out of the compartment as the drawer is- 

